Despite his more than 15 years at the College of Business, Professor Balasubramanian said, “the students never cease to amaze me. They are excellent in terms of street smartness and savviness. Each student is a unique individual - so is each class in each semester.  They are all different in different ways.  Although my job is to teach students, the most interesting part of my job is that students help me learn and better understand many complex business topics with their insightful questions.”

Balasubramanian teaches core MBA courses, graduate courses in entrepreneurship and international business, as well as doctoral research seminars in consumer behavior and research methods. 

Balasubramanian researches new types of marketing messages such as product placement, customer relationship management, new product diffusion, and the impact of strategic business decisions on shareholders’ wealth.

Recently, A joint research project between Balasubramanian and Mark Fishbein, pediatric gastroenterologist at Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital and formerly with SIU School of Medicine, was selected for the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology annual meeting.

The paper entitled “Food consumer characteristics: A role in the obesity epidemic?” concluded that obese food consumers perceive themselves as less healthy, possess less control of behaviors pertaining to healthy lifestyles, and buy foods more impulsively than their non-obese counterparts. Interventions to promote healthy eating at points of purchase are necessary to combat unhealthy consumer habits and the obesity epidemic.

“The research should help individuals who seek to improve their health, in particular via weight management. Our research proposes practical and effective behavioral approaches to alleviate the problem of obesity,” said Balasubramanian. “I believe this only marks the beginning.  My co-author and I expect more exciting research results and impactful outcomes in the near future.”.

A native of India, Balasubramanian was born in Villupuram, Tamil Nadu and raised in Hyderabad, where earned a bachelor of science and a master of business administration from Osmania University. He received a doctorate in marketing from The State University of New York at Buffalo.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• New types of marketing messages
• Impact of strategic business decisions on shareholders' wealth

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Arbindra Rimal, Wanki Moon, and Siva K. Balasubramanian. “Labeling Genetically Modified Food Products: Consumers’ Concerns in the United Kingdom,” International Journal of Consumer Studies, in press.

Wanki Moon, Siva K. Balasubramanian and Arbindra Rimal, “Consumers’ Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) a Premium for Non-GM foods versus Willingness-to-Accept (WTA) a Discount for GM foods,” Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, in press.

Ramendra Thakur, John H. Summey, and Siva K. Balasubramanian (2006), “CRM as Strategy: Avoiding the Pitfall of Tactics,” The Marketing Management Journal, 16(2), 147-154.

Arbindra Rimal, Wanki Moon and Siva K. Balasubramanian (2006), “Perceived Risks of Agro-Biotechnology and Organic Food Purchases in the United States,” Journal of Food Distribution Research, July, 37(2), 70-79.

Siva K. Balasubramanian, James Karrh, and Hemant Patwardhan (2006), “Audience Response to Product Placements: An Integrative Framework and Future Research Agenda,” Journal of Advertising, Fall, 35(3), 115-141.

AWARDS

Illinois-Missouri Biotechnology Alliance (IMBA). Research proposal titled “Assessing the Opportunities and Challenges of Soy Foods for Consumers, Markets and Public Policy.” Awarded in Summer 2006. Principal Investigators: Wanki Moon and Siva K. Balasubramanian. Funded amount: $65,000. Project status: ongoing investigation.

Undergraduate Assistantship Advisory Committee Award. Research project title: “Physical Health and Nutrition.” This award provides several student assistants to continue a large-scale field research study during 2006-2007. Awarded in April 2006. Project status: ongoing investigation.

RBC Financial Group Chair of Electronic Commerce Research Grant Competition, HEC Montreal, Canada. Research Proposal titled “Qualitative/Quantitative Assessments of Hedonic v. Utilitarian Orientation in Products, Websites, and Individuals.” Principal Investigators: Siva K. Balasubramanian and Songpol Kulviwat. This proposal won the first prize in the competition. Prize awarded in March 2006. Funded amount: Canadian $6,000. Project status: ongoing investigation.

Management Education Research Institute Grants Program, Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). Research Proposal titled “The Value of Business School Attributes: An Empirical Investigation.” Awarded in December 2005. Funded amount: $27,000. Project status: ongoing investigation.

Undergraduate Assistantship Advisory Committee Award. Research project title: “Investigation of Food Consumption Behaviors.” This award provides several student assistants to conduct a large-scale field research project that investigates food consumption behaviors during 2005-2006. Awarded in February 2005. Project status: ongoing investigation.